One Crystal Palace player has now done something the Premier League has not witnessed since Alan Shearer did it in the 1996/97 campaign.
Despite only arriving at Selhurst Park in February, Oliver Glasner and the Crystal Palace players have already etched themselves into the history books in SE25.
Never before has a Crystal Palace side scored four goals in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game at Selhurst Park before the recent 5-2 hammering of West Ham, for example.
Now, another bit of history has been made at Crystal Palace…
Jean-Philippe Mateta makes history at Crystal Palace
Well, Jean-Philippe Mateta recently became the first Crystal Palace player in history to score in five consecutive home games after his double in the 2-0 win over Newcastle.
However, the Frenchman has now gone one better and made – not only club history – but a piece of Premier League history as well after scoring against Manchester United at Selhurst Park on Monday night.
Mateta has become the first Premier League player since Shearer in the 1996/97 season to score in his first six home appearances under one manager after netting against Erik ten Hag’s side – as mentioned on Crystal Palace’s official website.
The Crystal Palace No.14 has remarkably scored in every single game at Selhurst Park under Glasner’s guidance.
Oliver Glasner’s record at Selhurst Park so far
- Crystal Palace 3-0 Burnley (Chris Richards, Jordan Ayew, Mateta)
- Crystal Palace 1-1 Luton (Mateta)
- Crystal Palace 2-4 Manchester City (Mateta, Odsonne Edouard)
- Crystal Palace 5-2 West Ham (Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze, Emerson Palmieri OG, Mateta x 2)
- Crystal Palace 2-0 Newcastle (Mateta x 2)
- Crystal Palace 4-0 Manchester United (Olise x 2, Mateta, Tyrick Mitchell)
Mateta has enjoyed a special run of form under Glasner, and a truly remarkable achievement has now occurred as he follows in Shearer’s footsteps with yet another goal.
Player of the Season
In our view, Mateta has to win our Player of the Season award.
Even during the dark days under Roy Hodgson, the 26-year-old was contributing key moments.
Mateta came off the bench to grab two assists in the 3-2 win over Wolves back in September, netting a hat trick against Plymouth just days before that victory.
The Sevran-born striker then scored and won a penalty as we admirably fought back from 2-0 down against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, before exploding into life under Glasner.
Mateta now sits on 15 goals and four assists in 36 appearances across all competitions, which is a truly excellent return for someone who was barely making the starting XI at the beginning of the season.
Honourable mentions must go to Jordan Ayew, Jefferson Lerma and Joachim Andersen.
However, Mateta gets our vote for the 2023/24 campaign.
